Indian Energy Policy

The Indian new integrated energy policy envisages governance of nuclear energy also. Chairing a full panel meet of Planning Commission, Prime Minister calls for appropriate energy pricing to provide the incentives needed for efficient use of energy and for investment for expanding the supplies. To meet the growing energy demand, the country needs to expand all its energy resources. The policy advocates market determined prices of energy.

In nuclear energy scenario, to see signififcant contribution, the governement should move quickly to encourage as many private players as possible since the gestation period is comparatively long and initial investment is quite large. In addition to the public sector Unit, NPCIL, private players, such as Tata Power, Reliance Power and JSW also want to enter the nuclear power scenario. However, there are issues to be resolved such as security of the facilities, regulatory aspects and the liability paymnet to the affected public in case of any accidents.

With the Indo-US nuclear deal comming through, the country is becoming more and more import-dependent, which makes it vulnerable to uncertainty of international prices and reliability of supplies.